AL Kababjie: Performance Evaluation study of Hybrid Generation System ------

Performance Evaluation study of Hybrid Generation System

(Microhydro + Diesel) in Iraqi Remote Rural Electrification
Prof. Dr. M. F. AL_Kababjie

W. H. Hamdon

University of Mosul
Collage of Engineering
Electrical department
Al_kababjie@yahoo.com

University of Mosul
Collage of Engineering
Electrical department
waelhashem_67@yahoo.com

Abstract
This work highlights the benefits and advantages of using Micro Hydro Power Plants
(MHPP) in electrification the rural areas, which they are remote from the electric grid
and locate beside the river. In these areas Electrical Energy is generated, if any, by
diesel generators. This work presents the Performance evaluation and feasibility study
as well as environmental effect of adding a Micro Hydro electrical generation unit to
two diesel generators used for electrification an Iraqi remote village. Homer software
from National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) USA is used to simulate the
system to obtain the optimum hybrid power system configuration. The results of
simulation show that the hybrid power system can reduce the cost of electric power unit
(kilowatt / hour) as well as reducing the level of air pollution and noise compared to the
stand alone diesel system.
Index Terms: Hybrid Generation System, Micro-hydropower, HOMER, Renewable
energies, Rural electrification, Environmental effects.

..

/ /

waelhashem_67@yahoo.com

/ /

Al_kababjie@yahoo.com

.
.

, (Homer) ,

.
( kilowatt/hour)
.
Received: 1 2 - 2012

Accepted: 20 6 - 2012

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I. Introduction
Many of Iraqi villages are using the diesel generators due to their remote locations from Iraqi
electric grid lines.
The diesel generator presents the advantages of having low investment costs and being easy
to operate. Against these advantages the diesel generators present some disadvantages as
listed below [1]:
1- The operating and maintenance costs are high because of the consumption of fuel and
lubrication.
2- The Environmental impacts:
Air pollution: Carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) contribute to global warming. Compounds
that can cause cancer or mutations can be formed during combustion and are spread through
exhaust gases. Oxide of nitrogen (NOX) and non-combusted carbon hydrogen compounds
(CH) can also be harmful to health as they generate ozone. SO2 and NOX may create
problems of acidification.
Noise: High noise levels can be a problem for the neighbors, as well as for the operators.
Being exposed to 85(dB) for more than 4 hours per day increases the risk of getting
permanent hearing loss.
Oil spillage: Fuel and lubricants pollute the soil and water.
- The efficiency of the system: Of the chemical bounded energy in the fuel, about 30% is
converted to electric energy. The rest of energy is lost as heat.
Thus there is a need to supply the load with more efficient, cleaner and cost-effective
technologies such as renewable energy resources.
Renewable energy or green energy is defined as the energy generated from natural
resources and Iraq has a variety of renewable energy resources such as solar, wind and kinetic
energy of water flow of Tigris and Euphrates rivers and their tributaries and branches which
can by efficiently employed to solve electricity supply shortage. Hybrid power systems
usually integrate renewable energy sources with fossil fuel based generators to provide
electrical power. They are generally independent of large electric grids and are used to feed
loads in remote areas. Hybrid systems offer better performance, flexibility of planning and
environmental benefits compared to the diesel generator based stand-alone system. Hybrid
systems also give the opportunity for expanding the generating capacity in order to cope with
the increasing demand in the future [2].

Il. HOMER program

HOMER Software is a flexible tool that models a mix of conventional fuels and renewable
energy to determine the most cost-effective configuration for each system. HOMER is an
abbreviation of "Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables" [3]. It is a computer
model proposed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for evaluating design
options for bothoff-grid and grid-connected power systems. It can be employed for standalone, remote, and distributed generation applications. Its optimization and sensitivity
analysis algorithms allow to evaluate the economic and technical feasibility of a large number
of technology options and to account for variation in technology costs and energy resource
availability. HOMER simulates the operation of a system by making energy balance
calculations in each time step of the year. For each time step, HOMER compares the electric
and thermal demand in that time step to the energy that the system can supply in that time
step, and calculates the flows of energy to and from each component of the system.
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AL Kababjie: Performance Evaluation study of Hybrid Generation System -----HOMER performs these energy balance calculations for each system configuration. It then
determines whether a configuration is feasible, i.e., whether it can meet the electric demand
under the conditions that you specify, and estimates the cost of installing and operating the
system over the lifetime of the project. The system cost calculations account for costs such as
capital, replacement, operation and maintenance, fuel, and interest. After simulating all of the
possible system configurations, HOMER displays a list of configurations, sorted by net
present cost (sometimes called lifecycle cost), to compare system design options. HOMER
calculates the total net present cost ($) with equation (1).

NPC

Cann
CRF (i, R proj )

. (1)

Where:
Cann is the total annualized cost ($/yr).
CRF is the capital recovery factor, which in turn is a function of the interest rates
R
i (%) and the project lifetime proj (yr) [4].
Another important factor for simulations is the cost curve. For a desired number of discrete
simulated power values, it must be defined how the input costs will vary. These costs are
related to capital, replacement and operation and maintenance (O&M). Therefore, for every
renewable source, it must be selected the power range and its associated costs. Fig. 1
illustrates an example of a cost curve. The power range goes from zero upto 3,250 kW
(dispatch intervals of 250 kW). So, one discrete cost value for replacement and initial capital
is chosen for each possible (combination of) simulated power.

Figure (1): Example of a cost curve for Homer [4]

III. Micro-hydro power system

Micro-Hydro power system (MHPS) is one of the popular renewable energy sources in the
developing countries. Most of the MHPS operate in isolated mode supplying the electricity in
the local rural area where the population is very small and sparsely distributed and the
extension of grid system is not financially feasible because of high cost investment required
for transmission line [5].
Micro-hydropower systems general benefits are [6]:
Hydroelectric energy is renewable electrical energy source with a high capacity factor
Significant potential for Green House Gases GHG emission reduction
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Hydroelectric energy has no fuel cost and with low operating and maintenance costs, it is
essentially inflation proof
Hydroelectric stations have a long life and many existing stations have been in operation for
more than half a century and are still operating efficiently
Hydropower plants have achieved excellent efficiency making it the most efficient of
energy conversion technologies
Majority of micro-hydropower would be run-of-river system, no flooding of land
Development of micro-hydropower would benefit local economy
Significant potential in Iraq
Hydro power is very site specific and micro-hydro schemes are smaller in size and they refer
to systems with capacity ranging from 1 kW just enough to provide domestic lighting to a
group of houses through a battery charging to 100 kW which can be used for small factories
and to supply an independent local mini-grid but do not necessarily supply electricity to the
national grid [2]. These small units have been used for many years, especially for their
mechanical power, but recent increases in the value of electrical energy and incentive
programs have made the construction and development of micro-hydro power plants much
more attractive. For villages very far from the national grid where connection to it may not be
economical and for which a constant stream flow is available, micro hydro-power systems are
the best options for electrification
The components for a MHP system can be grouped in to civil work components and
electromechanical components, as shown in Figure 2 below. These components are presented
in detail in the following subsections.

Figure (2): Principal components of a micro-hydropower system [7].

A. An intake where the water is diverted from a steam.
B. A head race to transport the water to a fore bay tank just above the power house through a
canal or pipe.
C. A fore bay tank to collect the water and screen out debris before it is transported to the
turbine.
D. A penstock pipe to transport the water from the fore bay tank to the power house.
E. Power house which consist of:
- A turbine to convert the power of the falling water into mechanical rotational power.
- A generator to convert the mechanical power to electricity.
- A controller to maintain a constant load on the generator.
F. A tailrace to return the used water to the steam. and
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AL Kababjie: Performance Evaluation study of Hybrid Generation System -----G. Transmission and distribution lines to the users.
For the specific site selected in this study, the two important data assessed are the gross head
is (3 m), and the flow of the water is(1000 l/s or 1m3/s ). The potential electrical power
available from the water resource is 20.6 kW given by the following equation [7]:
P=Q*H*g*e
.. (2)
Where:
P = potential electrical power in kW
Q = Usable flow rate in m3/s
H = Gross head in m
g = Gravitational constant (9.81 m/s2)
e = efficiency factor
According to the hydrology and topology of the area a Kaplan turbine (small in size and
faster) can be selected. We will assume that the efficiency of the turbine depends on the
manufacturer, and is about 0.75.
For variable speed generation, the choice of an induction generator is considered attractive
due to its flexible rotor speed characteristic in contrast to the constant speed characteristic of
a synchronous generator. The generator efficiency is usually more than 0.9 [8].
According to the local prices The estimated initial capital cost of the proposed Micro Hydro
Power Plant is ($50000) where the operation and maintenance cost per year is ($1200) and
the life time is expected to last for (25 Year) and the interest rate is 6%.

IV System components and simulation

The proposed system contains micro hydro Power Plant subsystem and diesel generators unit
sub-system. To design a mini-grid hybrid power system, some information must be obtained
from a particular remote location such as the load profile that should be met by the system,
the average steam flow available to the hydro turbine each month, initial cost for each
component (diesel, renewable energy generators), cost of diesel fuel, annual interest rate,
project lifetime, etc[9].
For this work, we select one of remote villages in Al-Gowair region north Iraq, which locate
beside the Great Zab one of the Tigris river tributaries, this village is sparsely distributed. It is
populated by approximately 280 people. Now the electrical power supply is maintained by
operating 2 diesel generators with the capacity of 50 kW and 25 kW.
According to the information obtained from the local area of the village, the estimated load
profile is shown as in Figure 3. This primary load has annual average of 533 kWh/day with
annual peak of 72 kW.

Figure 3: Estimated daily load profile

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According to the local area prices

The
costs
and
performance
characteristics of a (25kW) generator
are ($10000) initially, ($8000) to
replace it at the end of its life, and
($0.8) per hour for operation and
maintenance. The lifetime hours that
the generator will run before needing
replacement are (35000 hours).
The
costs
and
performance
characteristics of a (50kW) generator
are ($15000) initially, ($9000) to
replace it at the end of its life, and
($1.5) per hour for operation and
maintenance. The lifetime hours that
the generator will run before needing
replacement are (40000 hours). Fuel
price is 0.7$/L.
The system is simulated by Homer
program which gives all possible
configurations and arranged them
according to the basis of the NPC
(net present cost).
The overall system configuration of
the proposed mini-grid hybrid system
is shown in Figure 4.

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Figure (4): Proposed scheme of Hybrid power

system for the study area in Homer software

V simulation results and discussion

The simulation results by Homer software are shown in fig (5). As results of simulation, the
micro hydro power plant and diesel generators were evaluated to determine the feasibility of
the system. MHPP designed to operate continuously as long as continuous water flows.

Figure (5): The simulation results of the proposed system.

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AL Kababjie: Performance Evaluation study of Hybrid Generation System ------

Economic feasibility
For the optimum solution of the proposed model (Two diesel Generator 50&25kW with
MHPP) the COE (cost of energy) is found to be $0.116/kWhr which is lower than the COE
when using 50kW diesel Generator With MHPP and Two diesel Generator 50&25kW
without MHPP. Table 1 shows the comparison of simulation results for the three different
configurations
.
Table (1): the comparison of simulation results for the three different conditions.
variable

Two diesel Generator

50&25kW Without
MHPP

50kW diesel
Generator
With MHPP

Two diesel Generator

50&25kW
With MHPP

Initial cost
Total net present cost
Levelized cost of energy
Operating cost
Fuel cost

$25,000
$ 737490
$ 0.297/kWh
$ 55736/yr
$569087

$65000
$ 400080
$ 0.161/kWh
$ 26212/yr
$235684

$75000
$ 287490
$0.116/kWh
$16622/yr
$148368

Greenhouse gases (GHG) reduction

Recently, the world concerns the reduction of greenhouse gases in order to minimize
the pollution of gas emission. HOMER uses the emissions coefficients, which are in units of
grams of pollutant emitted per quantity of fuel consumed, to calculate the emissions of six
pollutants. The combination of MHPP and diesel generator able to reduce the pollution of gas
emission compared to a system that only consisting of diesel system. The greenhouse gases
pollute the environment which eventually affects the life of human beings [10]. The results of
simulation show that the two diesel generators used at this area now adds a total of 167471
kg/yr of CO2 pollutants into the atmosphere of the village. The proposed hybrid system with
MHPP can reduce the CO2 emission to 43662 kg/yr. The concentrations of other pollutants
such as CO, sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), etc. for diesel and hybrid system are
summarized in Table 2.
Table (2). Green house gases for diesel and hybrid systems
variable

Description

Two diesel
Generator
50&25kW
Without MHPP

Pollutant

50kW diesel
Generator
With
MHPP

Two diesel
Generator
50&25kW
With MHPP

Emissions (kg/yr)

Carbon dioxide
(CO2)

Nontoxic greenhouse gas.

167471

69357

43662

Carbon
monoxide(CO)

Poisonous gas produced by incomplete

burning of carbon in fuels.

413

171

108

Unburned
hydocarbons
(UHC)

Products of incomplete combustion of

hydrocarbon fuel, including
formaldehyde and alkenes.

45.8

19

11.9

Particulate
matter (PM)

A mixture of smoke, soot, and liquid

droplets

31.2

12.9

8.12

Sulfur dioxide
(SO2)

A corrosive gas released by the burning

of fuels containing sulfur

336

139

87.7

Nitrogen
oxides (NOx)

Various nitrogen compounds like

nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and nitric oxide
(NO) formed when any fuel is burned at
high temperature.

3689

1528

962

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VI Conclusions
Hybrid systems are one of the most promising applications of renewable energy technologies
in remote areas, where the cost of grid extension is high. By using HOMER (a software from
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) USA), This paper presents the economical
feasibility and environmental effect for adding Micro Hydro Power Plant into an existing
diesel system to meet the load requirement in one of remote villages in Al-Gowair region
north Iraq. The results show that the cost of generating electric power unit (kilowatt / hour) is
decrease from $0.297/kWh to $0.116/kWh and the Total net present cost is decrease from
$737490 to $287490 as well as reducing the level of air pollution and noise.
VII References
1. K. Kusakana, J.L. Munda "Economic and Environmental Analysis of Micro Hydropower
System for Rural Power Supply",IEEE 2nd International Power and Energy
Conference in 2008 PP: 441-444.
2. E. A. Al-Ammar, N. H. Malik, M. Usman, "Application of Using Hybrid Renewable
Energy in Saudi Arabia", ETASR- Engineering, Technology & Applied Science research,
Vol. 1, No. 4, 2011, pp. 84-89.
3. Mohammad Saad Alam, David W. Gao, " Modeling and analysis of a Wind/ PV/ Fuel
Cell Hybrid power system in HOMER", 2nd IEEE Conference on Industrial Electronics
and Applications in 2007 Pages: 1594-1599.
4. B.Wottrich, L.Neves Canha, R.Cezar , "Economic Analysis for Management of
Distributed Generation Systems on Electrical Networks", 2009 6th International
Conference on the European Energy Market Year:2009Pages: 11461-1146
5. Dr. R. K. Saket, " Design, Development and Reliability Evaluation of Micro Hydro
Power Generation System Based on Municipal Waste Water", 2008 IEEE Canada
Electric Power Conference Year: 2008 Pages: 1-8.
6. Ranjitkar,G. Jinxing Huang Tung, T. "Application of Micro-hydropower Technology for
Remote Regions", Journal: 2006 IEEE EIC Climate Change Conference ISBN:
1424402182 Year: 2006 Pages: 1-10
7. "Micro-Hydropower Systems: A Buyers Guide", Natural Resources Canada 2004, ISBN
0-662-35880-5
8. K. Kusakana, J.L. Munda, "Feasibility study of a hybrid PV-Micro Hydro system for
rural electrification", Journal: AFRICON 2009 Year:2009 Pages:1-5 Provider:
IEEE Publisher.
9. D.K. Lal, B. B. Dash, "Optimization of PV/Wind/Micro-Hydro/Diesel Hybrid Power
System in HOMER for the Study Area", International Journal on Electrical Engineering
and Informatics Volume 3, Number 3, 2011.
10. Al-Badi, A.H. Bourdoucen," Economic Analysis of Hybrid Power System for Rural
Electrification in Oman", Journal: 2009 2nd International Conference on Adaptive
Science & amp ;Technology (ICAST)ISSN: 08558906 Year: 2009 Pages: 284289.Provider: IEEE Publisher.

The work was carried out at the college of Engineering. University of Mosul
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AL Kababjie: Performance Evaluation study of Hybrid Generation System -----VIII Biographies

Prof. Maamoon F. Al-Kababjie was born in Mosul, Iraq in June 1947.He
received his B.Sc. In Elect. Eng. from University of Mosul June, 1968, M.Sc. In
Elect. Eng. from METU, Turkey March, 1976 and Ph.D. In Elect. Eng. From
University of Bradford, U.K. 1982. He is a Prof. at the Faculty of Electrical
Engineering and currently appointed as the Head of Electrical Engineering
Department, University of Mosul. Iraq. He has written more than 40 technical papers and also
supervising 22 postgraduate students. His research interest includes power system stability
and protection, voltage profile studies, artificial neural network. Fuzzy logic, renewable
energy systems

Power

Wael H. Hamdon was born in Mosul, Iraq in March 1967. He received his B.Sc.,
M.Sc In Elect. Eng. from University of Mosul 1990, 2007 respectively. He is
currently pursuing his PhD degree. His major research interest include islanding
operation of distributed generation, Micro Hydro Power Plant system, electrical
Quality.

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